Mark Allen out as Neil Robertson heads for final showdown with Ronnie O’Sullivan

Neil Robertson will face Ronnie O’Sullivan in the final of the Coral Tour Championship after beating Mark Allen 10-6 in the last four in Llandudno.
Mark AllenMark Allen
Mark Allen

Robertson recovered from 2-0 down to lead 5-3 after the opening session and extended his advantage to 6-3 before Allen took the next three frames with the aid of breaks of 82 and 103 to draw level.

Robertson, though, then recorded breaks of 106, 87 and 52 in a run of 303 points without reply to move within a frame of victory.

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Antrim man Allen squandered a great chance to stop the rot in the 16th frame as he looked set to clear and reduce his deficit, only to snooker himself on the last red after potting a simple blue, from which he failed to escape after a hastily-taken attempt.

Robertson took advantage to clear to the pink and seal his place in the best-of-25 frame final today and tomorrow.

“I’m really excited to play Ronnie in a best-out-of-25, that doesn’t happen too often apart from the World Championships,” Robertson told ITV4.

“It’s a fantastic test to see where I’m at going into Sheffield because the last final we played it didn’t matter who was the opponent, you can’t play any better than that.

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“Hopefully, he drops down from that level and gives me a few more chances.”

O’Sullivan beat Robertson 10-4 to win the Players Championship in Preston earlier this month, sealing the victory with his 1,000th century in the final frame.

And while he is now just one victory away from equalling Stephen Hendry’s record of 36 ranking titles, O’Sullivan says his love of the game is driving him on.

“I’m just not driven by records,” O’Sullivan added.

“I don’t buy into that sort of stuff and I’m glad that I don’t as you take the beauty out of the game and it all becomes about statistics. For me, I’d trade every point I’ve made and every bit of prize money just for the experiences.”